INSIDE Goochland High actors prepare to stage “Hairspray” > page 6
Volume 64, Number 17 • April 25, 2019
Driver convicted in crash that killed teen won’t serve jail time. Page 3
Candidate pledges to make internet access a priority By Roslyn Ryan Editor
NEILSON-HALL
As a mother, artist, farmer and small business owner, Crystal Neilson-Hall is used to wearing many hats. Now, with the announcement that is seeking the District 1 County Supervisor’s seat, she’d like to add “politician” to that resume as well.
Speaking to a crowd of voters during a joint campaign event with District 2 candidate Wendy Hobbs last month, NeilsonHall said she hopes to hit the ground running if elected this November. Among her chief goals to work on immediately, she said, are improving fire and rescue coverage to areas of the county that are currently underserved, and addressing the lingering
lack of broadband internet coverage in many areas of the county. Neilson-Hall said she has received plenty of feedback from residents as she canvasses neighborhoods in her district, and said internet access has been near the top of the list of concerns everywhere she goes. As the owners of The Freckled Farm, a Goochland-based dairy goat operation,
BOS approves budget for 2020 Plan includes increases for education and public safety; raise for board By Roslyn Ryan Editor
P
utting the finishing touches on the months-long budget process last week, Goochland County Supervisors voted unanimously to adopt the tax rates for 2019 as well as the county’s spending plan for 2020. Sharing his thoughts on what he said will
be his last budget season as a board member, chairman Manuel Alvarez told those attending the meeting that this most recent budget had been somewhat easier than some of the previous seven he has worked on, in part because the county is “in much better shape than we were years ago.” As in years past, Alvarez said, “I believe this budget places a focus on the real government responsibilities of public safety and education,”
Neilson-Hall says she and her husband Kevin have experienced first-hand how connectivity issues can prove a hindrance to small business owners. She also homeschools her two young children, and says that students across Goochland who do not have access to high speed internet are see Neilson-Hall > 5
Supervisors urge speed in upgrading intersection By Roslyn Ryan Editor
Goochland County supervisors are looking with renewed urgency at the intersection of Route 288 and Broad Street after a woman was killed in a traffic accident there on March 26. According to information provided
see Budget > 5
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